Foamed detergent composition

ABSTRACT

Highly alkaline detergents for foam cleaning contain, as the foaming additive, sodium salts of fatty acid sulfonates, amine oxides, amido alkyl amine oxides, substitution derivative of imidazoline alkanoic quaternary ammonium hydroxide, and mixtures thereof.

United States Patent Crotty 1 June 6, 1972 [541 FOAMED DETERGENTCOMPOSITION [72] lnventor:

[73] Assignee: Chelned Corporation, Cincinnati, Ohio [22] Filed: Mar.20, 1967 21 Appl. No.: 624,178

Homer E. Crotty, Cincinnati, Ohio [52] U.S. Cl ..252/528, 252/525,252/554 [51] Int. Cl. ..Cl1d 3/066 [58] Field oisearch ..260/583, 561;252/152, 156,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7 2,955,047 10/1960 Terry106/3 3,037,887 6/1962 Brenner et al.. 252/138 UX 3,247,121 4/1966Hendricks... ..252/1l7 3,335,092 8/1967 Perry ..252/l58 FOREIGN PATENTSOR APPLICATIONS 656,579 1965 South Africa OTHER PUBLICATIONS C & EN-Aug. 23, 1965 pps. 47- 48 McCutcheon Detergents and Emulsifiers 1963Annual p. 140

Primary Examiner-Mayer Weinblatt Attorney-William B. Walker and KennethE. Prince 57 ABSTRACT Highly alkaline detergents for foam cleaningcontain, as the foaming additive, sodium salts of fatty acid sulfonates,amine oxides, amido alkyl amine Oxides, substitution derivative ofimidazoline alkanoic quaternary ammonium hydroxide, and mixturesthereof.

8 Claims, No Drawings FOAMED DETERGENT COMPOSITION This inventionrelates to foam cleaning compositions which are highly alkaline.

In summary, the foam cleaning compositions of this invention contain, asessential ingredients, from to 90 weight percent sodium hydroxide, from5 to weight percent sodium tripolyphosphate, from 0 to weight percenttrisodium phosphate, from 10 to 30 weight percents soda ash, from 0 to 5weight percent calcium silicate, and from 4 to 10 weight percent of afoaming additive. Suitable foaming additives include sodium salts offatty acid sulfonates, amine oxides having the formula:

where R and R are alkyl groups having from one to 34 carbons or hydroxyalkyl groups having from two to 34 carbons, and R, is an alkyl grouphaving from six to 32 carbons; amido alkyl amine oxides having theformula:

wherein is an acyl radical selected from the group of acyl radicalshaving from 10 to 16 carbons, and R and R are alkyl radicals having fromone to four carbons; amphoteric compounds having the formula:

wherein R is a hydrocarbon radical having from four to 18 carbons, R, isa hydrocarbon radical having from one to four carbons, R CO is a acylradical having from one to four carbons, X is H, Na, K, CH COONa,CH,COOK or cn coon, and Y is H, Na or K; and mixtures of two or more ofthe above foaming additives. This invention also includes foam cleaningsolutions containing from 1.5 to 12 weight percent of the abovecompositions, formed from a premix of the ingredients or by mixing theindividual ingredients with water.

Foam cleaning is effected by pumping high foam cleaning solutions in amechanical system in which compresed air is mixed with the cleaningsolution to produce a stable, copious foam, and applying the foam to asoiled surface. The "dry" foam clings to the surface to be cleaned,increases the contact time of the liquid with the soil and preventsrapid drying or run-off of the liquid cleaner, thereby dramaticallyimproving the cleaning. Foam cleaning has several advantages. It reducesthe amount of solution required for cleaning. It prevens the splashingexperienced in spray cleaning. With foam it is possi- 6 ble to applycleaning solutions into duct work and pipings, and to the underside andpoorly accessible parts of machinery and equipment where spray cleaningis impractical. It prevents the irritating vapors of liquid solutionsfrom into the air.

It also reduces the cost of labor, time and materials. Foam cleaning hasbeen shown to be eflective for cleaning trucks, tractor trailers,aircraft, factory walls, and ceilings. it is efi'ective for alkalinepaint stripping and for other applications of solvent-type paintstripping from large surfaces such as storage tanks, walls and ceilings,aircraft and tractor trailers.

One example of a prior industrial foam cleaning procedure is describedin US. Pat. No. 3,037,887, the entire disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference for background information.

Although a wide variety of surface active agents are commerciallyavailable, many of them identified as foaming agents, most of them willnot provide a high foaming action in highly alkaline solutions which arerequired for cleaning applications.

It is the object of this invention to provide a foam cleaningcomposition which has a high foam characteristic even though it is veryalkaline. It is another object of this invention to provide aqueoussolutions of this highly foamable alkaline cleaning composition.

The foaming additives which can be used in the composition of thisinvention include sodium salts of fatty acid 10-22 carbons) sulfonatessuch as fatty acid sulfonates derived from oleic acid, linoleic acid,linolinic acid, eleosteric acid, licanic acid, palmitoleic acid,petroselenic acid, erusic acid and the like. The preferred fatty acidsulfonate is the sodium salt of sulfonated oleic acid.

Amine oxides can also be used as the foaming additive in the compositionof this invention. Suitable amine oxides include those having theformula:

wherein R and R are alkyl groups having from one to 34 carbons orhydroxy alkyl groups having from two to 34 carbons, and R is an alkylgroup having from six to 32 carbons. Amine oxides of this type aredisclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,270,060 and include acetyl dimethyl amineoxide, myristyl-cetyl dimethyl amine oxide, myristyl dimethyl amineoxide, stearyl dimethyl amine oxide, bis (2 hydroxyethyl) alkyl amineoxide, and the like.

Other useful foaming additives include amido alkyl amine oxides havingthe formula:

wherein is an acyl radical selected from the group of acyl radicalshaving from 10 to 16 carbons, and R and R are alkyl radicals having fromone to four carbons. Foaming agents of this type are disclosed inCanadian Pat. No. 724,663 and include compounds wherein the acyl groupis derived from capric, undecanoic, tridecanoic, myristic,pentadecanoic, and palmitic acids, for example.

Highly efi'ective foaming additives which can be used in the compositionof this invention include amphoteric compounds having the formula:

wherein R is a hydrocarbon radical having from four to 18 carbons, R isa hydrocarbon radical having from one to four carbons, R CO is an acylradical having from one to four carbons, X is Na, K, H, CH COONa, CHCOOK or lOlO39 CH,COOH; and Y is H, Na, or K. Amphoteric foamingadditives of this type are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,528,378 and2,773,068. The preferred amphoteric foaming agents are those accordingto the formula wherein R, has 8 carbons and R, and R CO each have twocarbons; and those compounds according to the formula where R has 11carbons, R and R CO each have two carbons, and X and Y are Na, K, or H.

The foaming additives are mixed with alkali metal (preferably sodium)hydroxides, pyrophosphates, tripolyphosphates, orthophophates,carbonates, silicates, and metasilicates to form compositions of thesecomponents having the concentration ranges shown in Table A. 7

Aqueous solutions containing from 1.5 to 12 and preferably from 3 to 8weight percent of these compositions are highly effective foam cleaningcompositions. The aqueous solutions can be made by mixing water with aprevious mix of the foaming additive together with the otheringredients, or it can be formed by sequential addition of theindividual ingredients or combinations of ingredients to water.

For cleaning with aqueous solutions of this invention, the solution ismixed with sufficient air to form a dry" foam in a foaming device suchas described in copending application Ser. No. 534,378 filed Mar. 15,1966, and is applied to the surface to be cleaned.

This invention is further illustrated by the following specific butnon-limiting examples.

Dry powder compositions containing 60 percent sodium hydroxide, percenttetrasodium pyrophosphate, 5 percent sodium tripolyphosphate, 2 percentcalcium silicate, 13 percent sodium metasilicate, and 4, 6, and percentconcentrations of each of the foaming additives shown in Table B wereformulated. These compositions are dry, stable powder compositions.Solutions of these compositions in concentrations of from 1.5 to 12percent produce a dry and copious foam when mixed with air.

Aqueous solutions of these dry powder mixtures are mixed with water inamounts sufficient to provide the foaming additive concentrations shownin Table B. Column A lists dilute concentrations, Column B listsimmediate (preferred) concentrations and Column C lists higherconcentrations.

fatty acid cycloimldate salt cycloimidate (Miranol-C2M) 5 Acetyldimethylamine 0.3% 0.6% l.3%

oxide (Ammonyx Co) 1 6 Myristyl-cetyl dimethyl 0.3% 0.6% 1.3%

amide oxide (Ammonyx MCO) 7 Myristyl dirnethyl amine 0.3% 0.6% 1.3%

oxide (Ammonyx MO) 8 Stearyl dimethyl amine 0.3% 0.6% 1.3%

oxide (Ammonyx MO) 9 Stearyl dimethyl amine 0.3% 0.6% 1.3%

oxide (Ammonyx SO) 10 Bis (Z-hydroxyethyl) 0.5% 1.0% 2.0%

alkyl amine oxide (Aromox C) ll Dimethyl alkylarninc 0.4% 0.8% 1.6%

oxide (Aromox CD) 12 Alkyl dimethyl amine 0.65% 0.8% 2.60%

oxide (Textamine CA) 13 Amido alkyl amine 0.5% 1.0% 2.0%

oxide (Textamine 1839) 14 Tertiary amine oxide 0.4% 0.8% 2.0%

(Leyco Amine Oxide C-50) The foarnable solutions of Table B form dry andcopious foams when mixed with air with a suitable foaming apparatus suchas a F OAM-ALL foam generator sold by DuBois Chemicals Division of W. R.Grace & C0.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the invention ashereinabove set forth can be made without departing from the essence andscope thereof, and only such limitations should be applied as areindicated in the claims.

The invention claimed is:

l. A powder foam cleaning composition consisting essentially of:

a. from 10 to wt. percent sodium hydroxide,

b. from 5 to 25 wt. percent tetrasodium pyrophosphate,

c. from 5 to 25 wt. percent sodium tripolyphosphate,

d. from 0 to 50 wt. percent trisodium phosphate,

e. from 0 to 30 wt. percent soda ash,

f. from 0 to 5 wt. percent calcium silicate,

g. from 0 to 5 wt. percent sodium metasilicate, and

h. from 4 to 10 wt. percent of a foaming additive selected from thegroup consisting of: 1. sodium salts of fatty acid sulfonates, 2. amineoxides having the formula wherein R and R are alkyl groups having fromone to 34 carbons or hydroxy alkyl groups having from two to 34 carbons,and R is an alkyl group having from six to 32 carbons,

3. amido alkyl amine oxides having the formula is an acyl radicalselected from the group of acyl radicals having from 10 to 16 carbons,and R,and R are alkyl radicals having from one to four carbons, and

4. amphoteric compounds having the formula:

wherein R, is a hydrocarbon radical having from four to 18 carbons; R isa hydrocarbon radical having from one to four carbons; R CO is an acylradical having from one to four carbons; X is Na, K, H, CH COONa, CHCOOK, or CH,COOH and Y is Na 190; H.

eight carbons, and R and R,CO each have two carbons.

5. The powder cleaning composition of claim 1 wherein the foamingadditive is the amphoteric compound wherein R has 1 l carbons and R andRCO each have two carbons.

6. The powder cleaning composition of claim 1 wherein the foamingadditive is the amine oxide (h) (2) wherein R and R, are methyl groups.

7. The powder cleaning composition of claim 1 wherein the foamingadditive is the amine oxide (h) (2) wherein R and R are hydroxyethylgroups.

8. The powder cleaning composition of claim 1 wherein the foamingadditive is the amido alkyl amine oxide.

2. An aqueous foam cleaning solution of from 1.5 to 12 wt. percent ofthe powder composition of claim
 1. 2. amine oxides having the formulawherein R and R1 are alkyl groups having from one to 34 carbons orhydroxy alkyl groups having from two to 34 carbons, and R2 is an alkylgroup having from six to 32 carbons,
 3. amido alkyl amine oxides havingthe formula wherein is an acyl radical selected from the group of acylradicals having from 10 to 16 carbons, and R4and R5 are alkyl radicalshaving from one to four carbons, and
 3. The powder cleaning compositionof claim 1 wherein the foaming additive is sodium oleate sulfonate. 4.The powder cleaning composition of claim 1 wherein the foaming additiveis the amphoteric compound wherein R6 has eight carbons, and R7 and R8COeach have two carbons.
 4. amphoteric compounds having the formula:wherein R6 is a hydrocarbon radical having from four to 18 carbons; R7is a hydrocarbon radical having from one to four carbons; R8CO is anacyl radical having from one to four carbons; X is Na, K, H, -CH2COONa,-CH2COOK, or -CH2COOH and Y is Na, K or H.
 5. The powder cleaningcomposition of claim 1 wherein the foaming additive is the amphotericcompound wherein R6 has 11 carbons and R7 and R8CO each have twocarbons.
 6. The powder cleaning composition of claim 1 wherein thefoaming additive is the amine oxide (h) (2) wherein R and R1 are methylgroups.
 7. The powder cleaning composition of claim 1 wherein thefoaming additive is the amine oxide (h) (2) wherein R and R1 arehydroxyethyl groups.
 8. The powder cleaning composition of claim 1wherein the foaming additive is the amido alkyl amine oxide.